The Fair Work Commission introduced annualised salary provisions into many modern awards in March last year. As part of these changes, employers need to ensure compliance by conducting an annual reconciliation to ensure employees paid on a salary were not paid less than what they would have been paid under an award.

These rules create yet more room for error amidst an already complex system, putting pressure on employers to accurately keep track of not only annualised salaries but also potential wages under an award agreement.

Why is it important to get it right?

The past few years have seen some of the biggest brands in Australia being publicly caught out for unpaid wages. Some have even self-disclosed employee underpayments to the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO), who has made it clear that “admission is not absolution”. Woolworths, for example, disclosed in October 2019 that it had underpaid roughly 5,700 employees over nine years by an enormous $300 million.

How does this happen to so often? The key reason is many businesses do not have a comprehensive understanding of employees’ entitlements. The repercussions aren’t just significant, they are also long lasting, with some businesses taking many months or even years to sort through backpay and ensure staff are compensated.

How can I ensure compliance?

Ample preparation is key to ensuring compliance and the best way to prepare is by keeping record of employee data such as rostering and time and attendance on the cloud, in real-time where it’s readily accessible and 100% accurate.

This month Roubler introduced a new, improved built-in annualisation feature allowing you to perform an annual reconciliation for salaried employees in just a few simple steps.

The annualisation feature works by analysing historical timesheet data from any employee, then costs them against the award you select, ensuring you haven’t underpaid salaried staff and helping prevent any claims of wage theft.

Why is it so important to be prepared?

No matter which industry you belong to, you should carefully check which award classification applies to your employees. Tracking the hours worked by employees – via time sheets or clocking in and out – is also recommended to create visibility for future audits.

These things take time, which is why it’s important to start now. Even unintentional non-compliance could see your business substantially penalised by the FWC, which is why Roubler’s built-in modern award compliance and annualisation features are designed to give you a stress-free solution to help ensure your business abides by the new changes.

Samantha Hill

Samantha Hill is a writer with a passion for making a positive impact online through words. Over the past four years, Samantha has worked with an array of different companies to deliver written content that communicates what their business means to their audience. Since joining Roubler in 2020, Samantha’s focus is on creating engaging content that informs business leaders of the latest skills, strategies, and techniques to help get the best out of their teams.